Judge Steven Servaas, Judge Sara Smolenski face off over new court and efforts to oust Servaas

Grand Rapids Press File PhotosDistrict Judge Steven Servaas says he blames Chief Judge Smolenski for efforts to get him removed from the bench, claims she denies.

A feud building for months between judges Steven Servaas and Sara Smolenski boiled over in a face-to-face meeting Tuesday, with Servaas refusing to comply with her plan to move them both this fall into a new 63rd District courthouse -- unless ordered by the state office of court administration.

The Rockford judge also lobbed accusations at Smolenski, blaming her for trying to get him removed from the bench through the state's Judicial Tenure Commission, a claim she denied.

Servaas claimed Smolenski betrayed him and didn't tell the truth. At times in the 20-minute meeting, his rancor was laced with obscenities.

"The first time you stabbed me in the back, it was $54,000 to defend myself," Servaas said, referring to his legal fight to keep his job, with his career's fate now pending with the state Supreme Court.

Smolenski, who has status over Servaas as chief judge in the 63rd District, called the meeting in her courthouse on Kenmoor Avenue SE to plan a November move into a consolidated courthouse being built at East Beltline Avenue and Knapp Street NE in Grand Rapids Township.

Servaas said he has told his staff to refuse to participate in planning unless he is ordered. He said the Rockford court shouldn't budge while the city of Rockford is fighting the move with a lawsuit now before the state appeals court.

Smolenski retorted that, if necessary, she will go to the state court administrator to get an order to force cooperation with the move.

Servaas invited a Press reporter to the meeting, which also was attended by Kent County Administrator Daryl Delabbio, county Human Resources Director Donald Clack and state court regional administrator James Hughes.

"I don't trust you guys," Servaas said early in the meeting.

He said he wanted to "clear the air" over conflicts that began 17 months ago, when the leader of the Judicial Tenure Commission sought to remove Servaas from office on charges that he abandoned his elected district when he lived in Ada Township and made crude drawings and inappropriate statements to staff members.

Servaas made sure those at the meeting knew he blames Smolenski and a staff member, claiming complaints against him were brought through an employee working in Smolenski's court to county human resources and eventually to Paul Fischer, tenure commission executive director.

Smolenski said she and her staff participated in the investigation as required by state law, but she was not responsible for the original accusations that came to the state tenure panel.

Servaas, unconvinced, told her "You stabbed me in the back."

"That has nothing to do with this," Smolenski told him.

"Yes, it does," Servaas responded. "I can't trust you."

Despite Smolenski's denial, Servaas said he is convinced his opposition to the consolidated courthouse was at the heart of complaints about his judicial conduct.

"There's nothing I could do to redeem myself in your eyes," Smolenski told her fellow jurist. "I could save you from drowning in a lake and it wouldn't redeem me in your eyes."

"No, because you wouldn't," Servaas retorted.

"Yes, I would, Steve," Smolenski said.

Smolenski said as chief judge, she is in charge of assigning staff in both courthouses, and she can't have one set of directions coming from her and another from Servaas.

"This isn't about you, and this isn't about me," Smolenski told Servaas. She said the new courthouse will be in use long after they are gone and, in a few years, people will wonder why the courts didn't consolidate sooner.

"Any change is difficult, especially when you've been used to having things done your way for so long," Smolenski said.

Delabbio, the county administrator, told Servaas court staff is employed by the county and subject to dictates of county administration, not Servaas.

Servaas then accused Delabbio of playing a role in the Judicial Tenure Commission investigation, to which the administrator responded, "Excuse me?" before leaving the meeting early.

Servaas is a vocal supporter of Rockford's lawsuit to keep the court. A Kent County Circuit judge's ruling sided with the county's consolidation efforts, but now the case awaits review by the state Court of Appeals, and it could go from there to the state Supreme Court.

Smolenski said it could be months or even years before a final decision, and staffs from the two courthouses need to work together now to coordinate the move.

In separate interviews after the meeting, each judge lamented the deterioration of a relationship that had once been cordial, even friendly. Servaas said his relationships have been damaged with a number of people he once trusted.

Servaas also said if he is forced to move to the new courthouse, he will conduct his court the same as if it was in Rockford, with no mixing of staff or judge duties.

He said if the court finds in his favor, the Rockford staff would have to move again and then Smolenski would be sitting alone in a multimillion-dollar building designed for three judges.

Smolenski said she remains convinced the fractured relationship can be repaired and said the past months have been grueling for her and her staff as well.

"It's not about him and his hurt feelings, and it's not about me, it's about what's best for the court," she said.